1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a pneumatic shock absorber having bellows, which bellows can act as rolling bellows. The bellows define the borders of a spring chamber filled with gas under pressure. The bellows are connected, on one hand to an axially movable outer tube, and, on the other hand to a roll-off tube, which roll-off tube is actively connected to a spring bracket.
2. Background Information
German Utility Model G 88 13 045 discloses a pneumatic shock absorber which has a roll-off tube to influence the spring force as a function of the stroke length. The roll-off tube is supported axially essentially only by means of a locator ring. On long pneumatic shock absorbers with correspondingly long strokes, there is essentially no way to prevent a displacement of the roll-off tube beyond the spring bellows during a rebound motion. Of course, in the event of a subsequent inbound motion, the roll-off tube will be at least partly pushed back, but then the roll-off tube will still not be in the desired position. For the embodiments of pneumatic springs in which the pneumatic connection is a component of the roll-off tube, there is the additional problem that the pneumatic hose is constantly exposed to the mechanical stresses resulting from the relative movement between the compressed air connection and a second fastening point, e.g. a strap, a valve or even a hose clamp.